InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship-USA
Founded 1941 (1941)
Type Non-profit 501(c)3 organization
Focus U.S. college and university campuses
Location
  • Madison, WI
Area served
1011 chapters on 667 campuses in USA; and international partnerships
Members
40,219 (2014–15)
Key people
 Tom Lin, president
Revenue
$102M (2014–15)
Employees
1,623 (2013–14)
Mission Evangelistic Christian campus community
Website www.intervarsity.org

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is an inter-denominational, evangelical Christian campus ministry founded in 1941, working with students and faculty on U.S. college and university campuses. In the 2015-2016 school year, 1,730 campus staff members served 40,985 students and faculty in 1,011 chapters on 667 campuses in the United States.[1] InterVarsity is a charter member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, a network of similar campus ministries around the world.

Organization

InterVarsity is governed by a Board of Directors. Tom Lin became the eighth president of InterVarsity on August 10, 2016. The president works with a nine-member cabinet.[2] InterVarsity is a tax exempt organization under the provisions of Section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. In the fiscal year ending 30 June 2015, InterVarsity had $102M in revenue (with over 70% coming from charitable donations) and $95.8M in expenditures.

InterVarsity is a charter member in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), and uses more than 85% of its revenue for staffworker salaries and other on-campus work. InterVarsity has been rated 4 stars (out of 4) by Charity Navigator for six straight years.[3][4] Michael Thatcher, the president of Charity Navigator, reported: "Only 4 percent of the charities we evaluate have received at least six consecutive 4-star evaluations, indicating that InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA outperforms most other charities in America."

InterVarsity strives to maintain the highest level of accountability with its ministry partners and is also rated by sites such as Guidestar and MinistryWatch. InterVarsity (as of 2015) fell short of the Better Business Bureau's "Standards for Charity Accountability".[5]

History

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA became an official organization in November, 1941. But it traces its roots to a movement of British university students, starting at Cambridge University in 1877. The movement spread to Canada before reaching the U.S. In 1938 Stacey Woods, the Canadian Inter-Varsity director, met with students on the University of Michigan campus. As an immediate result of that visit, students formed the first InterVarsity chapter in the United States. InterVarsity's first three staff members came on loan from Canada, and Stacey Woods served as the organization's General Secretary (CEO). In 1947 InterVarsity USA became one of ten founding members of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, a federation of national Christian student movements. By 1950 there were 35 staff workers serving students in 499 InterVarsity chapters and by the early seventies, the on-campus staff had grown to more than 200.

Statement of Faith

According to InterVarsity's official website, their purpose statement is the following:

Through the 20th century, InterVarsity used a brief statement of faith, called the Basis of Faith, which in January 1960 was supplemented by a unanimous National Staff Conference with what was called the Bear Trap statement, which defined the faith in terms of general Evangelical convictions.[6] On October 20, 2000, the board of Trustees adopted a modified version of their previous statement of faith:

In 2016, InterVarsity clarified its requirements for staff, asking that they affirm traditional, orthodox views of sexuality that are shared by most evangelical denominations.[7] Staff are asked to affirm a twenty-page document which affirms the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament sexual ethic that limits sexual expression to marriage between a man and a woman.[8] However, this change in policy has prompted controversy, especially from LGBTQ Christians and their supporters.[9][10]

Ministries

College ministry

The opening plenary session at Urbana 12, InterVarsity's 2012 Student Missions Conference, in the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis

Of the 667 campuses where InterVarsity is present, many have multiple chapters which focus individually on Greek students, international students, nursing students, graduate students, athletes, artists, and members of ethnic minorities. These include 71 ethnic-specific chapters ministering to Blacks, Asians, Native Americans, Filipinos, and Latinos. Of the 39,956 active InterVarsity students, 16,658, or 42%, identify themselves as ethnic minority or multiracial students. InterVarsity has 219 Asian American staff, 80 Black/African American staff, 63 Hispanic/Latino staff, six American Indian or Alaskan Native staff, four Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander staff, and 38 “two or more races” staff.

Twenty-nine campuses have a ministry specifically for sorority and fraternity members. InterVarsity also ministers to international students on many campuses, including 50 campuses with specific international student fellowships. Graduate & Faculty Ministry staff work with 193 chapters dedicated to graduate students, professional students, and faculty.

Nurses Christian Fellowship (NCF) is unique among the ministries of InterVarsity; it is a professional organization as well as a student ministry. In addition to campus ministry serving 997 students, NCF offers continuing education courses and the professional publication, Journal of Christian Nursing, to practicing nurses. A total of 277 professional nurses were involved with 24 Nurses Christian Fellowship local nurse chapters.

InterVarsity activities on campus are varied. Weekly large group meetings include student-led worship, a presentation on a topic of spiritual interest, and a social time. Small group Bible studies are organized around a dorm setting, or like-minded people such as members of a sports team or those interested in a particular topic of study. These are student-led and foster a sense of belonging that today’s students desire. Some of the Bible studies are specifically designed for people interested in spirituality but who may not call themselves Christians. Known as GIGs, Groups Investigating God, these studies allow interested students to explore the claims of the Bible in an open, accepting atmosphere where their questions are taken seriously. In the 2015-2016 school year through its various outreach activities, large group meetings, and Bible studies, chapter leaders reported 4,072 first-time professions of faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. That's a 102 percent increase over ten years ago.

Bible Study

Bible study has always been an important part of InterVarsity's campus ministry. InterVarsity staff worker Paul Byer, is credited with developing the Manuscript Study method of inductive Bible study,[11] a useful tool for inductive Bible studies.[12] After graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in architecture, Byer became one of the leading forces in InterVarsity, as both a campus staff worker and as the West Coast Regional Director, and was the developer of the Manuscript Study method.[13] Through his innovative approach to Bible Study, extensive mentoring, and long tenure he helped shape the theology and culture of the entire movement. The Manuscript Study method continues to be used heavily by InterVarsity as one of many tools to help students investigate and learn from the teachings of the Bible.[14]

Other early staff members laid more of the foundation for InterVarsity's commitment to Bible study. Jane Hollingsworth learned inductive Bible study in seminary and in turn trained staff members in the 1940s. She wrote the first Bible study guide published by InterVarsity, Discovering the Gospel of Mark. In the 1960s, veteran staff member Barbara Boyd developed what became the Bible and Life Training Courses, experienced by decades of students.[15]

Missions

InterVarsity students regularly participate in both long- and short-term missions projects. During the summer of 2016, 363 students participated in "Global Urban Treks," working in some of the poorest cities of the world, or "Global Projects," lingua-cultural or service ministries overseas. InterVarsity also sponsored "Urban Projects" in 32 cities in the United States, helping students understand God’s love for all people by working alongside existing ministries in the inner city.

InterVarsity, as a member movement, participates in the global student ministry network, the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), by sending staff and recent graduates to work under the authority of local IFES staff in countries around the world.

InterVarsity, Inter-Varsity Canada, and Groupes Bibliques Universitaires et Collegiaux of French-speaking Canada co-host Urbana Missions Conference, a triennial student missions convention, named for the campus town where it was held for many years. Since the first Convention in 1946, nearly 269,000 attendees have heard the challenge to participate in God's global mission. In December 2006, approximately 22,500 attendees participated in the convention as it was held for the first time in St. Louis, Missouri. Of the approximately 16,000 attendees at Urbana 15, 9,416 said yes to serving in a global or cross-cultural setting—short-term, mid-term, and long-term combined, 9,254 said yes to regularly praying and interceding for the global church, and 5,418 said yes to continuing with others their Bible study of Matthew’s Gospel that began at Urbana.

Training

InterVarsity operates several training centers, Campus by the Sea Catalina Island, CA; Toah Nipi, Rindge, NH; Cedar Campus, Cedarville, MI; and, until recently, Bear Trap Ranch, Colorado Springs, CO. These camps are used for weekend conferences during the school year, week-long training sessions at the beginning and end of summer break, and faculty and alumni retreats. Cedar Campus is the site of the InterVarsity Leadership Institute, a month-long summer program of Bible study, prayer and evangelism training. In 2015, a total of 20,800 people attended events at InterVarsity's training centers.

In conjunction with InterVarsity’s missions program, the training centers offer Student Training in Missions, STIM. This program seeks to prepare students for cross-cultural missions through a series of weekend programs that offer lecture, discussion and cross-cultural simulations.

InterVarsity Press

Logo of InterVarsity Press

In 1947 the InterVarsity/USA Board of Trustees determined that the Fellowship should develop its own publishing arm. With this action, InterVarsity Press (IVP) became an official part of InterVarsity’s ministry, overseeing the publication and distribution of books, booklets and Bible study guides in support of the campus work.[16] IVP's Purpose statement is:

For almost 70 years, IVP has published works by many important Christian authors including Francis Schaefer, John Stott, Phillip Johnson, and Bill Hybels. The IVP publication list includes many strong academic volumes, an excellent collection of titles dealing with racial reconciliation and a New York Times best seller. Over the years, many of the IVP books have received recognition by Christianity Today, the Canadian Word Guild and Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, among others.

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "Vital Statistics - About". InterVarsity.org. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Executive Team". InterVarsity.org. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Financial Info - About". InterVarsity.org. June 6, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  4. ↑ "America's Largest Charity Evaluator | Home". Charity Navigator. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Better Business Bureau - Charity Review | InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA". Better Business Bureau. April 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  6. ↑ The statements of faith are reprinted in Keith Hunt and Gladys Hunt: For Christ and the University: The Story of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of the USA - 1940-1990 InterVarsity Press, 1991.
  7. ↑ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/october-web-only/intervarsity-asks-staff-to-choose-stance-on-sexuality.html
  8. ↑ https://www.scribd.com/document/326684433/InterVarsity-Christian-Fellowship-Theology-of-Human-Sexuality-Paper#from_embed
  9. ↑ Dias, Elizabeth (6 October 2016). "Top Evangelical College Group to Dismiss Employees Who Support Gay Marriage". Time Magazine. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  10. ↑ Merrit, Jonathan (7 October 2016). "InterVarsity's Move on Gay Marriage". The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "History". Madden.customer.netspace.net.au. 1986-10-27. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Inductive Bible Study Hints - Bible Studies". InterVarsity.org. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  13. ↑ Archived March 5, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ "Manuscript Bible Study Method | Bible Study Lessons | Free Inductive Study Guide, Topics & Tools". Bibleseo.com. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  15. ↑ For Christ and the University by Keith and Gladys Hunt, InterVarsity Press, 1991
  16. ↑ "Beginnings The Forties and Fifties" (PDF). Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  17. ↑ "About InterVarsity Press". Ivpress.com. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
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